Rate Chinese

[pbj_jam]

9-9.5/10 Masterpiece

[wasted]

i just think long term people look back and hear Better, SOD, TWAT, Catcher, Madagascar, This I Love and think they great songs. i'd put them on a Best of GNR.

[DieselDaisy]

I would put it at about the 5/10 mark. It definitely does not stink as much as a 1-2 as there are a few good songs, but there are a lot of problems with the album. For the record I would give Appetite 10/10, UYI 8/10.

[wasted]

I don't know, I read comments then listen to record and I'm pretty blown away by it.

I listen to Chi dem, Shacklers, Better, SOD and think well are all really good then ITW knocks it out the park. Follwed by TWAT and Catcher, two classic GNR epics.

I can see it's a bit choppier on side 2 with Scraped and Sorry feeling like from a different record and the pace of it slows but all great tracks.

I always feel that sonically some of fits together better. Like the more modern sounding stuff should be grouped together in someways, buts its detail or preference. It could add variety too.

Side 1

Chinese Democracy

Riad n the Bedouins

Street of Dreams

Better

There was a Time

IRS

Catcher in the Rye

Side 2

If the World

Shackler's Revenge

Scraped

Sorry

Madagascar

This I Love

Prostitute

I think that kind splits it better groups to listen to.

[Apollo]

i just think long term people look back and hear Better, SOD, TWAT, Catcher, Madagascar, This I Love and think they great songs. i'd put them on a Best of GNR.

Agree 100%

[T-Minus]

I'd give it a 6.

CD as an opener works well, i would have preferred it to have sounded more edgy like the live version at Rio, but i still like it.

Shackler's is a good, different song. I like it, it's catchy, don't mind the solo as a lot of people seem to.

Better is probably one of the CD era's best tracks

SOD sounds a bit too processed and again I preferred how the live versions sounded when it was still The Blues.

If The World is a bit meh but Buckethead's playing elevates it a bit.

TWAT is where my opinion differs from almost everyone else. I find it fucking tedious. To my ear it is casio effect laden pap with excellent guitar solos, i don't get why people think it is "epic" but each to their own.

Catcher, I LOVED the demo, i merely like the album version. Good, solid song and musicianship.

Scraped is garbage. The drumming is great, the rest of it, especially the lyrics and vocal delivery are shocking.

Riad, again the drumming is brilliant, the initial burst of guitar and Axl are good but it is boring and has an attrocious chorus section which sounds like a different song pasted on.

Sorry, i initially liked, now i am bored of it. It's not bad and Buckethead's atmospheric solo is really good but I have grown out of love with it.

IRS was always boring to me but doesn't offend my ears, along with If The world it is the song they pull off best live from CD, and i cannot fathom why they dropped either from the set?

Maddy, I used to love it, still like it a lot. It's atmospheric and i dig the musicianship/vocal delivery.

This I love, I LOVE the music, love it, but the lyrics cheese it up a bit too much. Like how Axl sounds and the solo is epic.

Prostitute, I love it, always have, always will.

I would have loved the album to sound more organic, and less cluttered. This I love as an instrumental represents some of the best work "GnR" have ever done, ballad/soppy song wise. In the final mix however, you can barely hear what the fuck is going on. Patti Hood's harp playing practically vanishes and there is just too much going on.

[Mr. Dude]

I'd definitely put it right up there with records like Exile.. I think its better than any one collective record the Stones have released. I'm not necessarily saying they're a better band, but I think CD is a more serious, coherent, artistic focus than anything bands like the Stones or Aerosmith have released. GNR have released less material, but Axl never allowed GNR to become a psycho-circus, business commodity like those bands have.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Mr. Dude

[maynard]

I'd definitely not put it right up there with records like Exile.. I think its worse than any one collective record the Stones have released. I'm saying they're a better band, and I think CD is a less serious, coherent, artistic focus than anything bands like the Stones or Aerosmith have released. Axl's band has released less material, and Axl allowed GNR to become a psycho-circus, business commodity like those bands never have.

[Nosaj Thing]

I'd definitely not put it right up there with records like Exile.. I think its worse than any one collective record the Stones have released. I'm saying they're a better band, and I think CD is a less serious, coherent, artistic focus than anything bands like the Stones or Aerosmith have released. Axl's band has released less material, and Axl allowed GNR to become a psycho-circus, business commodity like those bands never have.

Great post. 100% true.

Axl is an embarrassment and he knows it.

[Rustycage]

I must change my original rating. I extrapolate that CD is a 17/10.

[Nosaj Thing]

"extrapolate"

[maynard]

ExtrapoMonster

[RussTCB]

I must change my original rating. I extrapolate that CD is a 17/10.

I gotta tell ya, this is probably for my favorite post in the last few months!

[DieselDaisy]

I would not even put it up their with Dirty Work or Emotional Rescue, i.e. the Stones biggest dog droppings are still better than Chinese Democracy.

[wasted]

I'd definitely put it right up there with records like Exile.. I think its better than any one collective record the Stones have released. I'm not necessarily saying they're a better band, but I think CD is a more serious, coherent, artistic focus than anything bands like the Stones or Aerosmith have released. GNR have released less material, but Axl never allowed GNR to become a psycho-circus, business commodity like those bands have.

GNR arent as business as Aeromith, Stones or Kiss to me. Its all too unpredictable.

CD I would say has more commercial songs that Exile or Physical Graffiti. It's just well formed rock songs but still has a rock n roll swagger against adversity.

Whether you like production or style is another thing. But theres high level rock songs across the board with CD. Maybe Ezrin influenced a more all business element like Kiss.

But i think think that looser more experimental vibe can let great songs like Catcher become something a bit more legendary. Let the solos breathe etc. CD is very concise. It's really the instrumentation that rocks.

Pound for pound it's one of the strongest albums ever released in terms a big rock songs.

Edited September 24, 2015 by wasted

[Rustycage]

^

[maynard]

^

Spam-poster who has a free pass to post non-sense stuff wherever he wants. I'll never understand why he's allowed to do this.

[Apollo]

I'd definitely put it right up there with records like Exile.. I think its better than any one collective record the Stones have released. I'm not necessarily saying they're a better band, but I think CD is a more serious, coherent, artistic focus than anything bands like the Stones or Aerosmith have released. GNR have released less material, but Axl never allowed GNR to become a psycho-circus, business commodity like those bands have.

GNR arent as business as Aeromith, Stones or Kiss to me. Its all too unpredictable.

CD I would say has more commercial songs that Exile or Physical Graffiti. It's just well formed rock songs but still has a rock n roll swagger against adversity.

Whether you like production or style is another thing. But theres high level rock songs across the board with CD. Maybe Ezrin influenced a more all business element like Kiss.

But i think think that looser more experimental vibe can let great songs like Catcher become something a bit more legendary. Let the solos breathe etc. CD is very concise. It's really the instrumentation that rocks.

Pound for pound it's one of the strongest albums ever released in terms a big rock songs.

Odd, I don't see it like that at all. And I love the album.

Jungle. You could be mine. Paradise City. SCOM. Those are big rock songs.

CD doesn't have those. Maybe Better. Rhiad

CD's strength is in it being Axl's ode to Elton John and Queen.

A "big rock song" is what you out on at a party and it gets everybody in the room fired up. That's why they play Jungle before every pro sporting event in the world.

CD is more adult contemporary than Big Rock Songs. And for me - that's OK. I love ballads and songs like coma, yesterday's and estranged.

Just my opinion though.

[wasted]

I don't mean popular rock songs. CD isnt that, I don't think it's AFD or Back in Black or American Idiot to most people.

Just the dynamics of Chi dem, Shackler's, Better, If The World, SOD, TWAT, Catcher, Sorry, IRS, Madagascar, TIL, Prostitute - big rock songs. There's not much filler. It's either a potential single or an epic.

The first five songs are singles

Chi dem

Shacklers

Better

SOD

If the World

Then theres Twat and Catcher.

I'm not going to argue over Scraped and Riad. Filler if you like.

But,

Sorry

IRS

Madagascar

This I Love

Prostitute

I could see Madagascar and This I Love as singles for sure.

Sorry is the kind of controversial song GNR do. Music wise it's pretty smooth. The one song with clear vocal and production and lyrics are like fuck you in the worst way.

IRS is pretty heavy Illusions era type zeppeliny rocker. Can't say I don't love it.

Prostitute maybe a masterpiece.

I know people are like fuck nu metal, it's not hard rock like GNR should be but taste is irrelevant if you like different styles.

CD is a bit of a hybrid but for me it mostly works. I feel like Scraped and Sorry are from another record sometimes. The sound is so different from the rest of the album.

So yes 12 high caliber songs in different styles. Seems like a great record to me.

Edited September 24, 2015 by wasted

[Rovim]

CD is a bit of a hybrid but for me it mostly works. I feel like Scraped and Sorry are from another record sometimes. The sound is so different from the rest of the album.

Kinda off topic, but I think the reason for that is those are Bucket's tunes. Scraped, Sorry, and Shackler's. I still think Axl made it work for the album though and Bucket was the right guitar player for what Axl was trying to do.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Rovim

[wasted]

CD is a bit of a hybrid but for me it mostly works. I feel like Scraped and Sorry are from another record sometimes. The sound is so different from the rest of the album.

Kinda off topic, but I think the reason for that is those are Bucket's tunes. Scraped, Sorry, and Shackler's. I still think Axl made it work for the album though and Bucket was the right guitar player for what Axl was trying to do.

When I look in the credits its from a session with Costanzo where those songs were finished. I think in 2004. Also think thats when ITW solo was done.

So

Shacklers, If the W, Scraped, Sorry

are possibly from the other record they were working on

and Atlas, The General, Oh my God, Silkworms were the songs from 2000 Intentions that didnt make it. Oklahoma aka Berlin also another one.

Shack and ITW fit more than Scraped and Sorry. Without them it's a more cohesive 12 track album. But they add another dimension to it so hard to argue.

I think Ron said a lot of the unreleased tracks sound like Scraped. I like the production on those two tracks much clearer and less grunge industrial. A warmer electronic sound.

[Mr. Dude]

I'd definitely put it right up there with records like Exile.. I think its better than any one collective record the Stones have released. I'm not necessarily saying they're a better band, but I think CD is a more serious, coherent, artistic focus than anything bands like the Stones or Aerosmith have released. GNR have released less material, but Axl never allowed GNR to become a psycho-circus, business commodity like those bands have.

GNR arent as business as Aeromith, Stones or Kiss to me. Its all too unpredictable.

CD I would say has more commercial songs that Exile or Physical Graffiti. It's just well formed rock songs but still has a rock n roll swagger against adversity.

Whether you like production or style is another thing. But theres high level rock songs across the board with CD. Maybe Ezrin influenced a more all business element like Kiss.

But i think think that looser more experimental vibe can let great songs like Catcher become something a bit more legendary. Let the solos breathe etc. CD is very concise. It's really the instrumentation that rocks.

Pound for pound it's one of the strongest albums ever released in terms a big rock songs.

I agree with that. I don't think the album has a weakness in terms of musicality. Its more bombastic and less inclined toward audio verite than exile, but the songs are packed tighter. Exile is great when you think of the entire backdrop, but when you really get down to it, it sounds like an album of classic throwaway tunes.

[André Menk]

10/10

[DieselDaisy]

I refuse to talk of the great Exile in the same sentence as the album with the rickety bike on the cover. Exile is one of the greatest rock albums ever written and recorded; it captures one of the greatest rock n' roll bands at their absolute peak (peaking, '68-73). It is a profound exploration of the lexicon of American musical song and verse, encompassing blues, rock n' roll, gospel, folk, country.

I think you have all lost your mind.

Edited September 24, 2015 by DieselDaisy

[-W.A.R-]

I refuse to talk of the great Exile in the same sentence as the album with the rickety bike on the cover.

lol ive replaced that cover with the grenade one (which is a better cover and has pretty cool effect on the itunes drop down menu)